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From album
Labour of Love
UB40 · 1983 · Track 3
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The story behind
The version everyone knows is by UB40, but the song was originally written in 1970 by Winston Groovy, a name that may seem unfamiliar today but left its mark on early reggae. It was originally released on Torpedo Records, but it wasn’t until Groovy re-released it in 1974 with Sidney Crooks as producer—this time on the Trojan label under its Explosion imprint—that it began to gain traction. Interestingly, decades later, the version that ended up playing on the radio and at parties wasn’t the original, but the one UB40 recorded for their 1983 album *Labor of Love*. The group, which had already taken an unexpected turn with its cover of Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine,” used this track as their second single and repeated their success: it reached number 10 in the UK and became their sixth Top 10 hit in just a few months.
The album *Labour of Love* was no ordinary project. UB40 put it together as an album of reggae covers—something uncommon at the time—and the result was an album that reached number 1 in countries such as New Zealand and the Netherlands. The song itself has a twist: the video, directed by Bernard Rose and Brian Travers, shows Ali Campbell and Robin Campbell in a boxing ring, as part of a conceptual idea where the two brothers fight over the same love. The album’s first music video, for “Red Red Wine,” had been rejected by Top of the Pops for depicting scenes of alcohol and theft, but the song’s massive success ultimately opened doors. With “Please Don’t Make Me Cry,” however, the network put up obstacles again and only allowed an edited version to air. Even so, the song found its way into the collective imagination and remains a classic of the sound that defined UB40 in the ’80s.